Friday, February 21, 2014

"What is TVP, and how do I use it?" This is a question we get a lot here at Honeyville, and rightfully so. Textured Vegetable Product, as it's also known, seems to be the one thing Food Storage enthusiast are extremely interested in, but yet know very little about. It's sparked so much interest that we even wrote a post about it titled "TVP, What Does It Mean To Me?"

Beef Flavored TVP vs Freeze Dried Ground Beef

In it's simplest terms, TVP is a meat substitute. It looks like meat, smells like meat, and even tastes like meat. But it's not a meat. It's actually a vegetable. What does that mean, exactly? Simply put, you get all the taste you love in meat, but not all the fat. And it does it for a lot less! Our TVP flavors typically cost half of what their meat equivalents are. That means you can have more food for half the price!

Perhaps the biggest question with TVP is how to use it. The best way we've found is not by simply replacing the meat you have in a recipe with TVP, but combining it. Using a half meat/half TVP ratio gives you the perfect meal without having to use all of the meat supply from your food storage pantry. Today's recipe is the perfect example. Combining our Beef flavored TVP with our Freeze Dried Ground Beef, we've created the perfect meatloaf recipe we know you'll family will enjoy!

In separate bowls, re-hydrate your TVP and beef by soaking in water until soft, then draining the excess water.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and mix gently together until well blended.

Place ingredients in a greased 9x13 bread pan and shape into a loaf. Drizzle some extra ketchup on top, then cook in the oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour 10 minutes.

Remove, allow to cool, then serve.

You never knew food storage could taste so good! The freeze dried beef, combined with the beef flavored TVP, gives this meal the taste and texture you've been looking for. We served ours with our re-hydrated Freeze Dried Green Beans and reconstituted Instant Potato Flakes for the perfect family dinner. The ketchup gives this meatloaf the perfect sweetness, while still packing it with the flavor you've come to expect in meatloaf.

It's time to start using TVP, and this meatloaf is the perfect recipe for it!

4 comments:

Anonymous
said...

My wife and I would love to try some of your food, but it is just the two of us. The amount for the box is way out of our league. In 2001 we were wiped out by a hacker; now all we have is our Social Security.How about offering single cans especially for the meatloaf recipe?Chuck & Jenny Gibsoncirclecgranch@gmail.com